Scope: This SAE Recommended Practice was
jointly developed by Chrysler, Ford and General Motors under the
sponsorship of the United States council for automotive Research (USCAR).
This document introduces the topic of potential Failure Mode and
effects Analysis (FMEA) and gives general guidance in the application
of the technique. An FMEA can be described as a systemized group of
activities intended to: (a) recognize and evaluate the potential
failure of a product/process and its effects, (b) identify actions
which could eliminate or reduce the chance of the potential failure
occurring, and (c) document the process. It is complementary to the
design process of defining positively what a design must do to satisfy
the customer.

Title: The FMECA Process in the
Concurrent Engineering (CE) Environment

Document Number: SAE AIR 4845
Scope: This AIR by the G-11AT (automation and
Tools) subcommittee, examines the failure mode, effects and
criticality analysis (FMECA) requirements and procedures as performed
on current and earlier vintage engineering programs. The subcommittee
has focused on these procedures in relation to the concurrent
engineering (CE) environment to determine where it may be beneficial,
to both FMECA analysts and users, to automate some or all of the FMECA
processes.
Its purpose is to inform the reader about FMECAs and how the FMECA
process could be automated in a concurrent engineering environment.
There is no intent on the part of the authors that the material
presented should become requirements or specifications imposed as part
of any future contract.
The report is structured to include the following subjects: a. a FMECA
overview; b. the current FMECA process; c. FMECA in the concurrent
engineering environment; d. FMECA automation; and e. the benefits of
automation.